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Tottenham draw into Champions League Group of Death

By Ryan Wrenn

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 17: Toby Alderweireld of Tottenham Hotspur beats Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund to the ball during the UEFA Europa League round of 16, second leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund at White Hart Lane on March 17, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 17: Toby Alderweireld of Tottenham Hotspur beats Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund to the ball during the UEFA Europa League round of 16, second leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund at White Hart Lane on March 17, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
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The Champions League group stage draw for the upcoming season was not quite as kind as it could have been for Tottenham.

Reigning champions Real Madrid and the Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund await Tottenham in Group H, along with Cypriot team APOEL Nicosia.

That means that Spurs will face both the team that eliminated them in their furthest-ever Champions League run — Real in 2011 — and one of their furthest ever Europa League runs — Dortmund in 2015. Then there’s the added obligation of a 4,000 round trip to the eastern Mediterranean.

This is not the ideal draw for Mauricio Pochettino and his team. No doubt they would have much preferred Liverpool’s spot in Group E, which will require a lot of travel but only includes contests against Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and Maribor.

Now, it’s worth putting this into context. Last summer Spurs drew into what appeared at the time to be a very favorable group. All they had to do to progress on the Champions League’s knockout rounds was come out on top against Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen and CSKA Moscow.

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That, of course, did not turned out as planned. Monaco were much more formidable opposition than anyone in Europe anticipated, and Bayer Leverkusen’s tactics nullified almost any advantage Spurs might have had. Two wins over CSKA couldn’t help Spurs avoid another spring in the Europa League.

The chances of Group H somehow defying expectations and being easier than it looks right now are decidedly more slim. But does that mean that situation is completely hopeless?

HotspurHQ is going to spend the next couple of days dissecting these teams individually, but suffice it to say for now that Tottenham’s Champions League season isn’t exactly destined to fail.

Though they would go on to win the whole thing, Real didn’t exactly look on point in last season’s group stages. They finished second behind, coincidentally, Dortmund on 12 points, thanks in part to two draws against the German side and a 3-3 result away at Legia Warsaw.

Dortmund, meanwhile, aren’t exactly the picture of stability. They fired Thomas Tuchel this summer despite their third place finish in the Bundesliga, and seem on the verge of selling wunderkind Ousmane Dembélé to Barcelona.

That means new coach Peter Bosz will have to adjust to his new team very quickly, and do so without one of the club’s star performers from last season. With the competition at the top of the Bundesliga table only getting more fierce by the season, it’s also conceivable that Dortmund might suffer the same squad balance issues Pochettino went through last season.

It’s possible, then, that Dortmund and Real could be challenged enough — either by each other or their domestic leagues — just enough for Spurs to dark horse their way to the next round.

Next: Tottenham continue transfer push with third choice goalkeeper

That would require wins over APOEL — a likely outcome — but also decent performances over four matches against Real and Dortmund. That might not be as impossible a scenario as it initially looks.

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